Old Cake Books April 29, 2008

My grandmother used to decorate and sell cakes out of her home.  It was a way for her to make an income while my grandfather returned to school.  When I started decorating cakes, she passed on some of her things to me.  She isn’t ready to let go of all her cake pans, but I did snag many of her old books.

I have:

• Betty Crocker’s Cake and Frosting Mix Cookbook, First Edition, 1966
• The Homemaker’s Pictorial Encyclopedia of Modern Cake Decorating, McKinley Wilton and Norman Wilton, 2nd Edition, 1954
• Wilton Yearbooks and patterns for 1982-1985
• Cake & Food Decorating Year Book by Wilton, 1973?, I am guessing this is the first year they came out with this book because the only date I found in it was in the decorations of one of the cakes
• and my favorite, Mail Box News, newsletters from February 1956 through January 1960 that my grandmother bound together.

These old cake books are full of old school designs and techniques.  I can’t imagine too many designers today using pipe cleaners, but back then it seems like almost all cakes use that technique.  Also, the cakes from the 50’s and 60’s are very intricate, covered with lace and all sorts of decorations made out of Royal icing.  It appears that most of these cakes took hours and hours.  There are also lots of recipes that seem to have been lost over the years.  I keep flagging things I want to try.  First up are sugared flowers.

More Old Cakes April 28, 2008

I found some more pictures of cakes I made previously.  I am still missing pictures of about 30 cakes, but as I find them I’ll post them.

Baby sleeping, shower cake.  This is a design I did freehand for a shower in 2006.  It is buttercream.

Cow Jumping Over the Moon.  Buttercream baby shower cake from 2007.  I based this on the Hi Diddle Diddle cake in the 1984 Wilton Yearbook.

Care Bear Cake.  I made this for a 1st birthday in 2007.  I normally use boxed mixes, but this cake was a dense oatmeal cake, almost like a bread.  It was tasty!  It is decorated as usual in buttercream.  The pan was a Care Bear 3D pan from the early 80’s.

This is a fondant baby shower cake I did in the fall of 2007.  At the time I was working VERY part time at a bakery, it is my first fondant cake.  I used cookie cutters to make the circle shapes, and molds to make the charms at the base of the cake.  The bow was made using loops of fondant.  At the base is a buttercream rope border colored to match the fondant.

Frozen Buttercream Transfer April 26, 2008

I had a baby shower cake to decorate and I envisioned a bright pink cake with a black fondant cutout of the silhouette of a pregnant woman holding an umbrella.  My idea was inspired by this cake.  Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a pregnant lady cookie cutter, and I have no idea how to make one.  I decided to find a greeting card with that design, make a template, and then cut the fondant out to the shape I wanted.

I found a card, made my template, then tried to cut out the fondant.  I tried scissors and a knife, but they both turned out like a kindergartner had done them.  I was frustrated!  I ended up scrapping that idea and making the “Baby in a Pea Pod” cake instead.

Later that day I discovered the blog, Diary of a Cake Stylist.  She had posted about the Frozen Buttercream Transfer Technique which I figured would be an excellent alternative to my fondant plan.  I have wanted to learn how to transfer designs to cakes for a long time and the technique taught in the Wilton classes with the clear gel just doesn’t cut it.

I laid wax paper over the greeting card used a tip #1 to outline and fill in the design.  I then froze the transfer overnight.  The next day I transferred the design to a plate since  I was just practicing and didn’t have a cake handy.

The results turned out pretty well!  The card is on the left, the results on the right.  Next time I will probably use a larger tip.  If you are thinking about using this technique, I recommend practicing first to get the feel down.  For my son’s first birthday, I may use this technique to copy the wall paper border we hung in his room.

Old Cakes April 23, 2008

Here are some of my old cakes.  Unfortunately I lost many of the pictures of cakes I did for co-worker’s birthdays.  I also seem to have lost the Care Bear cake I did for a 1st birthday.

Birthday cake for a two year old.  The pan was a Wilton foil pan circa the 1980s.  I used butter cream for the body and hat.  I used chocolate canned icing for the cookie and the mouth.  The eyes were a part of the kit.

Large cookie decorated with icing.  Based on the logo which can be seen on the hat in the background.

White buttercream icing.  Top of shower cake, sides also had squiggles.

Large buttercream with green and blue accents.

1st wedding cake.  Bottom layer had monogram.  Real roses, single column construction.

The Plan April 23, 2008

So I took the Wilton method classes a few years ago and learned that I love to decorate cakes.  The problem is that I haven’t made enough cakes to get good enough to make a living yet.  Yeah, I’ve made some cakes, but to get good, you need to practice daily.

My goal is to take steps to improve my skills so that by July of 2013 I can make a decent living designing cakes.

The cake I made last night turned out OK, but not great.  It was for a baby shower.  I made a Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix baked according to the instructions in 2- 10″ round pans.  I iced the two layers with pink buttercream  made according to the Wilton recipe, only I add extra vanilla.  The borders, vines, and peas on the base of the cake are also buttercream.  The pea pod, peas in the pod, and the baby are all Wilton fondant that I colored with gel colors.